Workshops - Open Call for participants

11. September 2021, 14.00 bis 17.00 Uhr Kunstuniversität Linz, Hauptplatz 8, Innenhof, 4020 Linz

Interface Cultures is pleased to launch two creative workshops in the framework of "Critical Data" and the "Academy of Thoughts" during the Ars Electronica Festival 2021.

free of charge - but limited to ten participants

Deadline for submission: Monday 6th of September 2021.
Send an email to escuderoandaluz@pm.me with your name, the name of the workshop(s) you would like to participate in, and a few lines explaining why you are interested. The choice will depend on the level of interest shown and the order of submission. (The participant selected will be announced on 8th September via mail).

Data Polluters (Interfight) By César Escudero Andaluz

From 14.00 to 15.30 h
The project Interfight (2015) is a series of physical bots, (DataPolluters) that interacts freely through touch-screens accessing to social networks, browsers and webs. These untraceable bots, behaves as intruders: taping, clicking, scrolling randomly, opening and closing applications or taking decisions, in order to provide wrong information for tracking and website analysis. Interfight obfuscates the mechanism of data capture and data analysis in platforms such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, or Aliexpress, being an important ally in the fight against Surveillance Capitalism.

This workshop addressed to those who have concerns about critical Interfaces, new media cultural politics and non-conformism towards the Internet data management, especially tracking Web site location and Web site analysis, design homogenization and GUI standards. Practically, this Workshop focuses on basic circuit development, welding and the ensemble of BEAM robotics –a type of stands for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics.

César Escudero Andaluz is an artist focused on digital culture, interface criticism and theirsocial and political effects. César’s research addresses issues such as dataveillance, algorithm governance, tactical interface and critical mining. His practices combine interfaces, electronics, images, interactive installations robotics with critical design, media archaeology and digital humanities. Escudero is Ph.D. Candidate and Lecturer in Postmedia Practices and Journal Club in the Interface Cultures Department at Art and Industrial Design University of Linz Austria. He has been a guest lecturer in the Digital Aesthetic Department at Aahus University, Visual Art and Multimedia Master at UPV University, National University of Colombia. He organises the annual event Sankt Interface.

FANGØ By Martín Nadal

From 15.30 to 17.00 h
"FANGØ" is a defense weapon against surveillance capitalism. Disguised as a mobile phone charger, a microcontroller takes control of the smartphonein which it is plugged in. Making queries to Amazon, Google, and other search engines, uploading videos on YouTube, liking random photos on Instagram, it aims to deceive data brokers, and disrupt the data capturing process.

In this two-part workshop, the artist will introduce participants to the concept of surveillance capitalism and how it works, and he will present examplesof works from other artists who examine similar ideas through their work. In the second part, the group will discuss the technical aspects of the "FANGØ"device, and the participants will have the chance to replicate one using their own Raspberry Pi, under the artist’s guidance.

The workshop would basically be the construction of the FANGØ device
The workshop would be for 5-10 people
Martín Nadal would bring the 3d printed casings and the raspberry pies
Attendees could take the device for 45€, if they are not interested there would be no problem because the materials can be used for another workshop.

Martín Nadal is an artist based between Berlin and Linz. In recent years, he has collaborated in a variety of projects dealing with cryptocurrencies, blockchain, surveillance capitalism and obfuscation. His works have been shown at Radical Networks, Science Gallery, Nam June Paik Art Center, Ars Electronica festival.

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